The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Bk. 3 Pt. 2 eBook

night, behold the power of my bow, although I am but
a man! Release Sita, the daughter of Janaka!
If thou dost not release her, I shall make the Earth
divested of all Rakshasas with my keen-edged arrows!”
Hearing these defiant words of the enemy, king Ravana
bore them ill, becoming senseless with wrath.
And thereupon four Rakshasas skilled in reading every
sign of their master, seized Angada like four hawks
seizing a tiger. With those Rakshasas, however,
holding him fast by his limbs, Angada leaped upwards
and alighted on the palace terrace. And as he
leaped up with a great force, those wanderers of the
night fell down the earth, and bruised by the violence
of the fall, had their ribs broken. And from the
golden terrace on which he had alighted, he took a
downward leap. And overleaping the walls of Lanka,
he alighted to where his comrades were. And approaching
the presence of the lord of Kosala and informing him
of everything, the monkey Angada endued with great
energy retired to refresh himself, dismissed with
due respect by Rama.

[57] Lit. an engine killing
a hundred. Perhaps, some kind of
rude cannon.

[58] Perhaps, brands or torches steeped
in wax, intended to be thrown in a burning state,
amongst the foe. Readers of Indian history
know how Lord Lake was repulsed from Bharatpore by
means of huge bales of cotton, steeped in oil,
rolled from the ramparts of that town, in a burning
state, towards the advancing English.

[59] Lit. be a Purusha (male)!
Manhood would not be appropriate
in connection with a Rakshasa.

“’The descendant of Raghu then caused
the ramparts of Lanka to be broken down by a united
attack of all those monkeys endued with the speed of
the wind. Then Lakshmana, with Vibhishana and
the king of the bears marching in the van, blew up
the southern gate of the city that was almost impregnable.
Rama then attacked Lanka with a hundred thousand crores
of monkeys, all possessed of great skill in battle,
and endued with reddish complexions like those of
young camels. And those crores of greyish bears
with long arms, and legs and huge paws, and generally
supporting themselves on their broad haunches, were
also urged on to support the attack. And in consequence
of those monkeys leaping up and leaping down and leaping
in transverse directions, the Sun himself, his bright
disc completely shaded, became invisible for the dust
they raised. And the citizens of Lanka beheld
the wall of their town assume all over a tawny hue,
covered by monkeys of complexions yellow as the ears
of paddy, and grey as Shirisha flowers, and
red as the rising Sun, and white as flax or hemp.
And the Rakshasas, O king, with their wives and elders,
were struck with wonders at that sight. And the
monkey warriors began to pull down pillars made of
precious stones and the terraces and tops of palatial
mansions. And breaking into fragments the propellers
of catapults and other engines, they began to cast
them about in all directions. And taking up the
Sataghnis along with the discs, the clubs,
and stones, they threw them down into the city with
great force and loud noise. And attacked thus
by the monkeys, those Rakshasas that had been placed
on the walls to guard them, fled precipitately by
hundreds and thousands.